Chapter 3 Mazzie
Mazzie
The headlights of Lucas’s truck lit up the highway as the song “Lotta Bit Of You” by Drew Green spilled through the speakers.
I was all about a guy in a truck, good country music, and speeding down the road in the dead of night. The last time I’d been with a country boy was my freshman year. Josh Turley drove a beat-up Ford, wore cowboy boots and a black Stetson hat, and loved to fuck to country music.
I briefly thought about the brown-haired guy who was heir to one of the largest cattle ranch operations in Louisiana.
He and I weren’t compatible outside the bedroom.
He was too possessive for my liking, and I had to change my number because he hadn’t taken the breakup well.
My mother dated men like him, and I wasn’t the daughter to follow in my mother's footsteps.
I wanted a man who didn’t treat me like I couldn’t look at another guy or suffocate me to the point I couldn’t breathe.
I wished every day that my mom would wake up and realize that most of the men she dated were assholes. I still held out hope that she would find her soulmate—a person who cared about her, looked at her like she was the only one in the room, and didn’t stray.
“Did I lose you?” Lucas’s raspy tone pulled me out of my thoughts.
I blinked at the reflective dashed highway lines as they blipped by. “Just enjoying the music.” And ruminating about an old flame that I’d snuffed out long ago.
In a matter of several hours in Lucas’s presence, I could tell he wasn’t what the rumors claimed him to be.
He’d shown me that he was more than a playboy, more than a mouth-watering body, and more than I was ready for.
He was kind, tender, and emotional. Holy hell, to witness him almost breaking down in Leigh’s room had been wildly unexpected.
Nevertheless, the woman he fell for would be the luckiest person on the planet. My stomach pitched and rolled like a fun roller-coaster ride at the idea that I could be that person.
The liquor has gone to your head, my inner voice supplied. Men are not in your equation.
I slyly eyed the yummy wide receiver who was definitely a distraction I couldn’t afford.
But one night with him wouldn’t hurt so I could see if the rumors were true and if he lived up to the hype.
After all, I was due for a good round of sex, and I was feeling quite horny at the moment. Thank you, mango concoction.
“Everything okay?” Lucas asked. “How’s the itching?”
“For the tenth time, I’m good.” My tone was harsher than intended. “The Benadryl kicked in hours ago, and the liquor helped.” Then I rushed to say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”
Lucas had been nothing short of a gentleman and sweet, checking on me throughout his birthday party between chatting up other ladies around the pool.
“No biggie. Are you still okay to hang at my place? Or I could take you home.”
Hell no. I was not about to tango with my mom. I had no energy to do so either.
Bailey had gone to Erik’s place to continue what she’d started with him at the pool house. Who was I to deny my bestie a good fuck? So Lucas had offered to hang out with me at his house until Bailey came up for air.
“I’m cool.” I scrunched my nose. “Unless of course you have a date later.” I kind of knew he didn’t, but I wanted to give him an out in case he’d changed his mind.
“I’m all yours, Midnight.”
I whipped my head toward him. “Midnight? Where in the world did that name come from?”
He laughed, his strong hands gripping the wheel. “It popped into my mind the moment I laid eyes on you. The color of your hair reminds of the night sky.”
I snorted. “Is this one of your lines you use when trying to bed the opposite sex?”
“I only hook up with blondes,” he said as sure as the trees blipping by outside the passenger window.
His answer felt like a knife to the stomach, and I didn’t know why. He was as hot as hell. Sweet as sugar and as smooth as Gentleman Jack.
“That’s good to know,” I replied. “I’m safe then.” I hoped I sounded like his comment didn’t affect me.
“As safe as you want to be.” His copper orbs flashed with mischief.
I didn’t want safe with him. I wanted wild sex, but I couldn’t bring myself to say that. “A movie sounds good until Bailey is done.”
He flicked on his blinker. “You’ll be waiting all night. Erik will have her tangled around him until the sun comes up.”
Argh! My frustration multiplied. Not only because that wasn’t the plan but because I was quite jealous that she was having sex and not me, and a night of steamy, sweaty, and seductive bedroom gymnastics with Lucas was off the table since he only hooked up with blondes.
Oh well. He was right. I was safe. Probably for the better.
“If you fall asleep on the couch, I can carry you to Ryker’s room. He’s staying at the ranch house tonight.”
“The couch is fine.” I was not crawling into QB1’s bed. That would be odd.
Lucas navigated the quiet streets around campus, and five minutes later, we were pulling into a driveway of a two-story home nestled beneath long-standing oak trees that climbed toward the starlit sky.
After he cut the engine, he hopped out like the Flash and rounded the truck to open my door.
My eyebrows came together. “For real? What guy opens doors for girls these days?” I asked myself more than him.
“I have flaws,” he said as a matter of fact. “But my mom taught me to be a gentleman.” He sounded hurt.
He was totally blowing my mind in ways I didn’t care to analyze.
Because if I did, I might fall faster than the speed of light for him, and I didn’t believe in love at first sight.
I was too jaded from all the years of seeing the men my mom brought home.
When I was too young to understand the male species, I’d stayed up all night consoling her.
Not anymore. My responsibility was making sure my sister was protected, fed, and happy, as a child should be.
I took his hand, but my flip-flops betrayed me, slipping on the shiny step and sending me straight into his arms for the second time that night.
Grinning, he caught me like I was the most precious thing in the world. “Are you accident-prone?”
“No, but it seems around you I am.”
One hand dove through my hair as he held me securely to him. He smelled of the ocean and all kinds of manly scents that had my clit throbbing endlessly.
“Nervous?” he asked.
More than he knew. “I think you’ve got some weird gravitational pull.” I slid down his hard body until I was on two feet, my legs somewhat trembling.
He shifted those copper eyes back and forth then lowered his gaze to my lips.
A lightning bolt of lust tethered us together.
I thought he was about to kiss me, and my pulse sped up then died a quick death as he guided me out of the way so he could close the truck’s door.
I almost pouted.
“Come on,” he said, escorting me to the front door.
I felt like my world was about to change. That after I went inside, I would come out a different human being. One who would never be the same.
I glanced around the neighborhood for nothing more than an escape plan or time to decide if I was doing the right thing.
I wouldn’t lie. I wanted him. But I wasn’t his type, so no harm, no foul. Not to mention, spending the night anywhere but my house was far better than arguing with my mom.
Once I was standing in the foyer, Lucas flicked a switch, and a lamp glowed beside a chair near the couch.
I absently picked at a nail, scanning the space.
A clean living room decorated nicely with leather furnishings and geometric wall art, a decent-sized kitchen in the distance, and a dining room to the left of the stairs.
I was expecting empty red cups, trash scattered around, and beer bottles piled high.
I was so wrong. Even the scent of pine hanging in the air confirmed that Ryker and Lucas were neat freaks.
“What will all the touchdown bunnies say when they learn I spent the night in Lucas Allen’s house?” My nerves were evident in my tone. Damn it.
“Don’t care. Besides, I don’t kiss and tell. If you thought that, you have me all wrong.” He whisked a hand through his hair, and suddenly, I wanted to be that hand.
He crossed the wood floor and turned on the TV. “Make yourself at home. I’ll grab some water.”
Water sounded refreshing. I couldn’t drink another drop of liquor. If I did, I might make an ass out of myself.
I padded over to an oversized fabric chair, dropped my purse, then sat on the couch. The second the buttery leather swallowed me up, I felt the tension pour out of me.
“What do you want to watch?” Lucas asked, returning with two bottles of water that he set on the coffee table.
“I don’t want to keep you up.” My heart was racing at the possibility of what came next.
“I’m not tired.” He appeared to be wide awake, for sure.
“Would you mind taking me to Bailey’s when she texts me?” I asked. “Or I can walk if you point me in the right direction.”
He folded his big body onto the cushion next to me. “I told you. Bailey and Erik won’t surface until late tomorrow morning. But if you want me to take you home, just say the word.”
Nodding, I gulped down a mouthful of water then returned the bottle to the table before I kicked off my flip-flops and got comfortable.
He opened Netflix. “What would you like to watch?”
Nothing. I want to have sex.
On screen, a list of TV shows were below the heading Continue Watching, and one of those shows was Bridgerton.
I angled my head at him. “You’re watching Bridgerton?”
“I plead the Fifth.” He chuckled, a sound that drove the butterflies to take flight. “Haven is.”
“Liar,” I fired back.
He shrugged. “You know the sex in that show is hot. Have you watched season one?”
A flush pinched my cheeks. “Maybe.” Bailey and I had a weekend binge watching party.
He flicked on the show, and season two, episode one started.
It was silent except for the voices coming from the TV, and my every nerve was on high alert.
I kept my eyes glued to the screen like it could save me from making a move I might regret or might not.
Sitting next to the most coveted football player on campus, who’d already shown me a side I wasn’t expecting to like this much, I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff ready to free-fall.
Kiss him. That devilish voice in my head egged me on. I almost had kissed him in Leigh’s room.
“Lucas?”
“Yeah.” He paused the show.
I gnawed on my bottom lip, my heart ramming against my chest. “Never mind.”
“What is it? Don’t be afraid to say whatever is on your mind. I don’t bite.”
“That’s debatable.” I giggled. “Would it be wrong if I”—I inhaled a much-needed breath—“used the bathroom?” Where did that come from?
His hearty laugh bounced off the walls.
“It’s not that funny.” I playfully slapped him.
“Think about how that question started? And that’s not what you wanted to ask me.”
I adjusted my body so that I was facing him. “Are you a mind reader?”
He was about to answer when I leaned in and locked lips with him.
He froze, becoming a full-on ice sculpture.
I pulled back, touching my lips. “I’m sorry. I should call an Uber.” I made a grab for my purse, my heart thudding in humiliation until Lucas caught me, spun me, and dropped me right onto his lap.
His hands dove in my hair, and our mouths collided in a torrent of needy lust.
My body was a match ready to spark, and I had a feeling he was about to light the flame.
This wasn’t smart. This wasn’t safe. But it was exactly what I wanted.